1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improved surgical, cutting and cauterizing apparatus and methods for their use.
2. Description of Related Art
Arthroscopic surgery is becoming increasingly popular, because it generally does less damage than open procedures, produces less scarring in and around joints, and results in faster healing and return of the patient to full productivity.
Nevertheless, arthroscopic surgery has its limitations. The surgeon must operate through a narrow tube formed in the body on which surgery is being carried out, which is awkward. Only one probe can be used at a time for many operations. Often the viewing camera is positioned at an angle different from the surgeon's normal gaze. This contrasts with "open surgery" where the surgeon has relative ease of viewing the surgical site and can freely move both hands.
Occasionally, during the performance of an arthroscopic or similar minimally invasive procedure, a surgeon will penetrate a vessel within the surgical site. At this point, the surgeon may desire to cauterize the vessel.
One way of cauterizing the vessel is the use of radio frequency (RF) energy, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,402 to Fan. Such RF methods offer a quick and relatively easy way of cauterizing penetrated vessels. However, use of current RF cauterizing devices usually requires the surgeon to withdraw the surgical tool being used at the time, and insert a tool for cauterizing the penetrated vessel. This switching of the tools is usually required because of the space limitations involved in arthroscopic surgery.
This switching of tools during surgery can be time consuming, awkward, and potentially dangerous to the patient. Additionally, there is the danger of not being able to locate the penetrated vessel. Therefore, there is the need for an improved surgical apparatus and cutting and cauterizing device and methods for using the apparatus and device to avoid the above-mentioned problems.